


Steam around your mind...

by curiumKingyo



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: AU: Selkie!Hermann, Cuddling nerds, M/M, Me using other people's AUs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-03
Updated: 2013-12-03
Packaged: 2018-01-03 08:39:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1068392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiumKingyo/pseuds/curiumKingyo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermann is a selkie, Newton is really tired and everybody needs to cuddle and hug every once in a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steam around your mind...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KaijuSplotch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaijuSplotch/gifts).



> I was so deeply in love with [KaijuSplotch](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KaijuSplotch/pseuds/KaijuSplotch)'s AU that I asked to play with it.  
> Thank you very much, dear! I hope you like it as much as I like your work <3
> 
> Original work [here :D](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1060016?view_full_work=true)
> 
> Also, I honetly couldn't think of a better title ;_;

Newton was known as someone with lots os energy. Tons of it, actually. Nearly endless, as Hermann would point out. Nearly. It turns out 27 hours was the longest he could run without proper sleep. The selkie found it out when, after that exact ammount of time, Newt simply collapsed over his desk on his side of the lab. The clatter of instruments falling to the ground as Newton's arms slumped down uselessly echoed in the lab, drawing Hermann's attention. As he spotted the biologist, face pressed to the table top, he hurried down the ladder he's been perched upon as fast as his weak leg allowed and crossed the line to Newton's side of the lab limping as fast as he could.

"Newton..." He called softly, shaking the man's shoulder gently. As he got no response, he shook a little harder and this time hazy green eyes opened to meet him. "You need rest, Newton. Come."

Newton was just partially conscious as Hermann gently guided him out of the lab and down the corridors. Even if he was completely awake, he wouldn't question why he was being guided further away from his quarters; it would be clear by the parka wrapped around Hermann's arm that the selkie was taking him to the private showers. They sneaked in the empty room and Hermann quickly locked it down and sealed it off with the usual silence spell. He then turned to Newt, who was mostly asleep again, leaning on the wall by his side. Smiling, he led the man to a nearby bench and sat him there before going to the faucets to fill up the pool with steaming hot water. The sound of the water hitting the tiles filled the bathroom and mist began to roll near the ground in an almost poetic way. Hermann undressed and carefully folded his clothes before sliding his parka over his bare body. He then woke Newton up again.

This time Newton actually sobered up enough to smile at Hermann.

"How did I end up here?" He asks with a frown.

"Mostly by yourself." Hermann answered while motioning for him to get undressed. "All I had to do was guide your steps. Are you a sleepwalker or I was just lucky you decided to follow me?"

Newton snorted and began to unbutton his shirt. "I wouldn't say lucky, but I probably only followed because it was you."

Hermann, who was now tending to the water, stilled for a second. A smile formed in his face before he swiftly dove forward, shifting to this seal form before reaching the bottom of the pool. When Newt finished undressing, he crossed the room and knelt by the edge of the pool, turning the faucets off before dipping his feet into the water. He sighed, splashing around a bit with a contented expression on his face. He closed his eyes, enjoying the heat from the water and the slow caress of the steam still rolling off the surface. Hermann got near the edge quite silently for such a big creature, but still he managed to surprise Newton when he touched the man's thighs with his flippers, urging him into the water.

Newton smiled and began to lower himself into the pool when Hermann all but wrapped his long flippers around him and brought him down to what could only be described as a hug. At first he stilled there, unsure of what to do with his hands and if he should say something or whatnot; but then he notices that the flippers around his back are softly petting him, in a truly conforting manner. He relaxed over the gigantic body floating under his, crossing his arms and resting his head there, neatly tucked under Hermann's chin.

"You've been working too much." Hermann said in a low, conforting voice. "You know better than anyone what lack of sleep does to your brain. I bet you didn't make any progress in the last hours."

Newton just barely nods in agreement: it is true, it's been hours he's just poking randomly at his samples without really doing any thinking. Now all that frustration that kept him from either sleeping or working turned into a bone deep fatigue, a slow warmth that rose from Hermann's leathery skin and wrapped his mind in a fluffy blanket. The flippers kept stroking his back as they floated in the water; he drapped his leg over the seal's body, letting his foot sink into the water. The steam danced around them, making his eyes drift close without him meaning to. Hermann's steady breath, combined with the warmth engulfing him, lulled him off into a deep slumber.

When he woke up again, the water was rather cold and the steam had already cleared up. Hermann was standing by his side, his now human arms around his waist as he called his name in a soothing tone. They got off the water and drained the pool. Hermann took a proper bath as Newt waited for him, still down to his soaked briefs. When the selkie came out of the shower, already dressed up, he spotted the human slumped in the bench, chest rising and falling rhythmically; bare skin still warm and wet. He shook his head but took a towel and began to gently dry Newton up; pushing and pulling him from his seated position to get most of him dried before waking him up again. When he did so, Newt got to that sleep-walking like state, barely able to help the mythical creature to dress him up again. Once more the half guided, half carried the human down the corridors, this time into his own room. He sat Newton on his desk chair and went to pull the covers in the bed away to give them acess. He turned the main light off and turned the head lamp on so that they could move around easily.

He caressed Newt's face until he woke up. Once again the biologist woke up to find himself in a different place from where he was before; but once again the sight of Hermann was enough to make him feel okay. Hermann kissed his forehead tenderly. "Come to bed with me." He said before limping back to the bed and lying down. Newton quickly got to his feet and kicked his unlaced boot off. He then noticed he wasn't wearing his shirt and tie: above his skinny jean he was wearing Hermann's parka, right over his bare skin. He slowly pushed his pants off while appreciating the feel of the heavy garment over his skin; he tried hard not to consider what Hermann meant by that. He squeezed the zipper while debating over taking it off or not but soon enough he realized he wasn't gettin to any conclusions. He stepped close to the bed and lookd down at Hermann in the half light; watching the selkie as he watched him back.

"Keep it." Hermann said before he could open his mouth. His expression must have turned all kinds of perplexed and surprised because Hermann actually smiled up at him. "I've turner the heater down here since I'm used to the cold, the parka will keep you warm. Land-walker." He added the last bit as an after thought, almost as an intimate joke. Newton didn't mind it in the slightest as he literally flopped down by the selkie's side.

Hermann tried to complain that he was taking up too much space in the bed and that he should let him adjust his leg before taking a position himself, but all words died when Newton gave an innocent kiss to his temple and immediately began to snore softly. Sighing, he managed to shift to a more confortable position, spooning up against Newton's already fast asleep body. It wasn't like the pod's cuddle pile, as Newton would call it, but was good enough.


End file.
